N. Korea says South faked warship sinking

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea’s most powerful state organ said yesterday that South Korea faked the sinking of one of its own warships and warned that the Korean peninsula was edging ever closer to war.Pyongyang has made similar statements through state media since a multinational probe said last week that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine downed the vessel, killing 46 sailors in the worst attack on the South Korean military since the Korean War.This time, though, the comments were delivered at an extremely rare Press conference in the North Korean capital presided over by an official with the secretive country’s National Defence Commission, which is headed by leader Kim Jong Il.North Korea has denied any responsibility and warned that retaliation or punishment for the sinking would mean armed conflict.  So far, it has issued various threats, including one to cut off South Korean access to a joint industrial zone in the North and wage  “all-out war”. (AP)